jaclynder 's review for:

Winterblaze by Kristen Callihan

4.0

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Winterblaze is the third installment in Kristen Callihan’s Darkest London series. This one focuses on Poppy, the eldest of the trio of sisters that the series revolves around so far. At the end of Moonglow Poppy’s secrets, including her power and her involvement with a secret organization, come to light, following an attack on her husband, Winston. Winterblaze opens three months after the attack with Poppy tracking down her husband because an old enemy has threatened her and those she cares about. Poppy and Winston have to deal with the secrets that they have been keeping from one another and determine whether their marriage is worth saving, all while tracking down the true motivation of the terrifying demon that threatens them.

I have read the previous books in Callihan’s series and this one follows suit from the previous books. As an aside, I would recommend reading the books in order because each book really builds from the previous one, especially considering that readers get teasers of the two main characters that will be featured in the fourth book in the series. Anyways, what I liked in Winterblaze was that readers learn more about the mysterious SOS organization and I can really see how the series can develop from there considering that the three sister’s stories have been exhausted (to a degree). The SOS organization reminded me of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series from Philippa Ballantine and Tee Morris. While the Ministry series has a different tone and a lot less emphasis on romance and mythical creatures like werewolves and shifters, Callihan’s series has also created a great alternative London. I can see fans of the Ministry series liking Callihan's series because of the mystery element that seems to get progressively stronger with each book.

While I did enjoy reading Winterblaze I found it to be different from the other books in the series, I think because Poppy and Winston were already married. It was a different reading experience for me reading about a married couple in the romance genre. It was interesting, but different. There was a lot of anger between Poppy and Winston, which is different from the general romance novels where characters simply come together. In Winterblaze, the characters have already had their romantic beginning; this is what's happened after that. It was an interesting look at the happily ever after. Both Poppy and Winston were strong characters; however, at times they were very frustrating because of their animosity towards one another. I think that author did a fantastic job of allowing these characters to grow and learn from the mistakes that they had made with one another. It was an interest take on the romance genre for me.

My favourite parts throughout the book were the chapters from Mary Chase’s and Jack Talent’s point of view. I loved the bickering relationship that both of them have with one another and I was continually wanting to get back to chapters where these two characters interacted with one another. By the end of the book I was very much hoping that the author would be writing another book in the series with these two as the main characters. Thankfully (or un-thankfully, considering the wait) readers are given a teaser for the next book in the series, Shadowdance, and it appears to feature Mary and Jack as the main characters. Suffice to say, I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book in the series, I only wish I didn’t have to wait so long.

The Darkest London is fast becoming my favourite gaslight series along with Cindy Spencer Pape’s Gaslight Chronicles and Bec McMaster’s London Steampunk series.

*review copy courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley.